Showdown in Holloway: Indian Take-out

In the past week, I have tried two different Indian restaurants for take-out (or take-away) on Holloway Road, to see which one was better.  I already know that I like Standard Tandoori on Holloway Road sort of near Highbury Corner, but since there are at least three other Indian restaurants worth considering, I thought I would give them a go.

The first place I went to was Holloway Indian Take-Away, a place that was on the way between work and home, that looked like it might be promising. I went in and ordered the vegetarian curry with plain rice and garlic naan.  It was ready quickly, though while I was waiting I noticed these plastic signs that looked incredibly tacky on the wall, which didn’t seem to me as a good sign.

The curry and rice were in metal tins with paper lids, and the naan was given to me in a paper baggie.  On the whole, the vegetable curry I had was kind of “meh.”  It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, either.  The garlic bread was okay, but again, not great.  I won’t comment on the rice except that there was enough for me to use in a homemade meal I made the next day.  The cost for this meal came out to something like £7, if it wasn’t exactly £7.  I wish I could remember precisely.  Americans, double the seven and subtract a couple bucks to get a ballpark idea of how much my meal cost in dollars.

In any case, Holloway Indian Take-Away wasn’t necessarily disappointing, but it was definitely not the best Indian food I’ve had, or even remotely in the running.  So, a few days later, I tried another place I’ve seen and passed by a lot on Holloway Road: Indian Ocean.  It’s right across from the Selby’s and Morrison’s, and I went in on a rainy Saturday night.  Unlike Holloway Indian Take-Away, the place wasn’t empty, and the interiors were quite nice–a little swank, even.  I wondered if I could even get take-out for a moment, but there was no need.  The menu was full of really delicious things, but I went with the channa tamater, garlic naan and plain rice.  The total for that I do remember: £7.40.  While waiting, I was given a glass of water (with a lime in it, no less), and offered other drinks such as tea or whatever, which I declined.  There was even a newspaper.

When I got my food home, it had come in these plastic containers, which was great because I could reuse them for taking my lunches to work and class.  The food itself was definitely better from Indian Ocean than Holloway Indian Take-Away; the curry from Indian Ocean was flavourful and really hit the spot on a rainy London night.  The naan bread was soft and tasty, although I think Standard Tandoori probably has the best garlic naan on the road from what I can tell.

So, for this showdown on Holloway between the these two Indian restaurants, Indian Ocean emerged the clear winner with the fantastic channa tamater.  Since it’s close, it will be a sound option in the future for rain-soaked nights when I don’t have anything to scrounge up in my little kitchen–which is frequently the case.  I can’t wait to try out more things off of their menu.

Lights Out, But Hello, Standard Tandoori

Tuesday evening I got home from the internet cafe up the road and found there was no power in my studio.  At all.  After knocking downstairs to see if one of my neighbours had power in her flat (nope), fretfully texting a friend (who seems to hear nothing from me but whines and whimpers), calling my letting agent and leaving a message on his phone, and damn near pouncing on the poor French guy in Flat #2 to grill him about whether the power was out in the whole block or just our building (about which I feel rather regretful for, and feel as if I owe him baked goods to apologise, the poor man), I went out in search for a flashlight to buy.

I didn’t find one, although I went to a number of later-night establishments, but I did wind up in the midst of a huge crowd that spilt out of Emirates Stadium, home of the Gunners (Arsenal, woot), who had a game that night.  So, I am in this mob of folks walking towards Islington, and, well, since I couldn’t really walk the opposite direction without feeling like a salmon trying to swim upstream, I had no other alternative but to go into an Indian restaurant.  Really, like an awning sheltering a poor head in a downpour, so did Standard Tandoori provide me with a shelter from the throng of football fans.  Seriously, I had no other option except to order tons of food and eat it all until my eyes started to cross because I was so full.

Truly, no other option at all.

The food at Standard Tandoori was great, and the service was pretty good as well.  I ordered garlic naan, which is a standard order for me in Indian restaurants.  Seriously, garlic naan is one of those foods I would take with me to a hypothetical desert island in my hypothetical suitcase that can magically produce only ten items of food ever.  The vegetable tikka masala, my first tikka masala, was a little sweet for my tastes, but the gobi bhajee, which is “lightly spiced cauliflower” according to the menu, was deliciousness.  There’s a large selection of vegetable side dishes, and upon reviewing the menu, I’m pretty eager to walk back down Holloway to see what their chana masala, vegetable curry and sag paneer tastes like.  With garlic naan, of course.

Anyway, when I got back to my flat that night full and fat with Indian food after the crowds went home or found pubs to situate themselves in, there was power back in my building.  Hooray!

Until around 1 am, when the whole block lost power.  And I was in the shower, in a windowless bathroom, when the power went out.

Joy.

The electricity came back on Wednesday afternoon, so I couldn’t really justify another night at Standard Tandoori, but at least in the future, whether or not I have electricity in my apartment or not, I know where to get good Indian food in my neighbourhood.  It’s not the closest Indian restaurant to me, funny enough, but it’s worth the walk past the Holloway Road Underground station.  I’ll save exploring the other Indian-style restaurants near me on a day when it’s raining or I’m feeling otherwise lazy.

Not-So-Desperate Housewives

Sundays are for sweet tea and hanging out with the gals, and that’s what I did last week at Jeannette’s lovely bachelorette pad.  Marie rounded out the trio for an evening of Indian food, incense, cards and playing dress-up.  And, oh yes, sweet tea.

To explain, it began with Jeannette leaving me a comment on my Facebook wall: “I think you me and Marie need to have some kind of Indian food housewife dress wearing get together of some sort before you go to jolly old England.”

Actually, perhaps it started a bit earlier when Marie and I were yammering about how cool Jeannette was, and how we ought to all hang out more.  I relayed this conversation to Jeannette, telling her we both had a “girl-crush” on her, which I’m sure she found amusing.  Jeannette is awesome, and if you know her, you know this to be true.  I was telling Marie how cool Jeannette’s place is, and told her she ought to go to Jeannette’s apartment sometime.

So, when Jeannette posted the comment online, I took her up on it.  Literally.  I even went a bit further and suggested that we play cards, like the housewives in Mad Men and in I Love Lucy do.

Jeannette was the best hostess, providing Marie and I with an incomparable vegetarian Indian feast.  Jeannette has spent a year teaching herself how to make Indian food, and through reading books and trial and error, she has become an accomplished cook of Indian fare.  It’s an interesting transformation, as I recall a couple of evenings back when I lived in College Park when I played hostess and cooked for Jeannette.  At that time, she didn’t cook much, but now, she can make delicious samosas, curries and condiments thanks to her diligence and determination.

Marie, Jeannette and I were all decked out in “housewife wear.”  Marie was in a dress of mine, complete with a houndstooth headband and an apron I bought for her a while back.  Jeannette was in a cute black number, wearing a full apron she made out of a shower curtain.  Yes, Jeannette made an awesome apron out of a shower curtain.  You can’t even tell it’s handmade.  How boss is that?

The food was amazing.  I’ll have to include a menu of what we ate later, but one of the more impressive items on the plates was the tomato pickle condiment.  I’ve included a photo of Jeannette and Marie with the jar of tomato pickle, which provided a savory-salty kick to the food we ate.  It was a marvelous meal, all the more impressive that Jeannette has gotten this good at cooking in a year’s time.  I cannot stress how good it was, and Marie also was very vocal in how much she enjoyed the food.  Dinner conversation revolved around food, if not the food we were eating, but also cooking tips and suggestions Jeannette had for Marie with regards to Marie’s unused pressure cooker.  It was great to hear them talk about food, sharing food experiences and learning new techniques.  Marie loves to cook, so I think she really enjoyed asking Jeannette questions about the ingredients and components of our meal.

I was content merely with eating.  Mmmm….

Afterwards, we ate a light dessert made by Jeannette, setting the fruit crumble bars I brought aside, as they were a bit heavy for the meal (though they did prove to be a great lunchtime snack for Jeannette the next day).  We continued conversation, I took photos, and Jeannette brought out her massive incense haul she found on the side of the road.

Afterwards, Jeannette taught us how to play Contract Rummy, which was good fun.  We couldn’t quite complete the game, which is actually built of a series of little rounds, but I wound up the victor from the games we played.  It was good fun, and we left Jeannette’s after 10 pm, a good time had by all, with plans in the works for more cooking, card-playing and, perhaps, sweet tea.

Samosa Lady News

So, apparently, All Spices of India, which was the home of my dollar samosas, closed down because the owner of the building allegedly wanted the woman, whom I have dubbed the Samosa Lady, out of the building.  During a conversation I was having with my new friend Gary at Stardust, I was telling him about the dollar samosas at All Spices of India, and, wanting to know if she’s relocated elsewhere, he turns around and asks another Stardust patron who explained to us the story.

Apparently it is illegal to make food in your home and then bring it to your business to sell, and the owner of the building had made a call to the Department of Health, and so she was shut down.  Alas, there is no new location for samosa goodness–our source said that she’s going to be just doing private cooking lessons, and not opening up a new store location.

So, that is the story thus far with the Samosa Lady, formerly of All Spices of India on Bumby.  If anyone is keen on going in for a lesson or two on making Indian food, I’ll see if I can find out any contact information for that.

Lamenting the Loss of Dollar Samosas

It’s been at least a month or so since All Spices of India, a small Indian grocery store right off of Bumby, has been closed. The sign is gone, the familiar champagne-coloured Camry is no longer in the parking lot, and the promise of samosa deliciousness has vanished from the air.

During the short time I lived on Valencia Road in Colonialtown, I used to go to that store on nearly a weekly basis, buying eight or ten samosas at a time for a dollar apiece, which was a ridiculous bargain. Coworkers would give me cash to buy them samosas so they could have them for lunch the next day. The particular pop of the spice the proprietress used in making her potato-and-veg filling was unique among her in the area. It was glorious.

Now, the closest place to downtown for Indian food seems to be either Woodlands over on OBT near Oakridge, or (more likely) the Indian place over in Winter Park. Neither sell their samosas for a dollar, and I don’t recall either having quite the 1-2-spice-punch of All Spices’ pockets of goodness.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of the Samosa Lady, particularly if she has moved her shop elsewhere, the information would be most welcome. Oh Samosa Lady! Come back with your delicious wares!